2025-12-27 20:39
publication
2025-12-27 20:39
Poles, who on Monday near Elche in Spain killed two Germans trying to force them to leave an illegally occupied building, behaved defiantly towards police officers – the “El Debate” daily wrote on Saturday.
As previously reported by Spanish media, two Poles, aged 19 and 35, who had previous police records, beat to death two German citizens, aged 50 and 62, when they tried to force them to leave an illegally occupied building in the town of La Marina near Elche in eastern Spain. The third of the beaten men was taken to hospital.
“El Debate” writes that Poles had been detained before and while in custody they insulted officers and spat on them, and yet they were released. A week before Monday's murder, the men were arrested for robbing a car dealership.
A woman who witnessed the bodies being removed notified the gendarmerie (Guardia Civil). “The officer who answered the call asking for help thought it was a joke. What the witness described was more like a mafia movie than reality,” wrote the Spanish daily.
When the Poles realized that their act had been discovered, they barricaded themselves in the villa they occupied, from which the officers only took them out after almost 20 hours, on Tuesday.
– Come in if you have courage, we are waiting for you – they shouted to the uniformed officers. According to “El Debate”, they behaved defiantly and did not respond to the weapons pointed at them and calls to lie down on the ground.
The crime took place near Elche, a city on the Costa Blanca. It is a popular tourist destination, also among Poles. According to press reports, the owner of the occupied villa is a German who asked his compatriots to remove the squatters (Spanish: opossum).
The phenomenon of illegal occupation of empty apartments has been a problem in Spain for years. It intensified especially after the 2008 financial crisis, which hit Spain hard. In April this year new housing law regulations have been introduced in the country to limit this phenomenon.
A survey conducted at the beginning of the year by the GAD3 center shows that over 80 percent the public, including the majority of voters of all major political parties, supported anti-occupation actions.
The mayor (alkad) of Elche, Pablo Ruz, from the center-right People's Party (PP), said that the Poles had previously been detained by the services three times, but were quickly released due to “imperfections of the system resulting from the leniency of the law.”
– Despite their arrest, they remained at large, which is an extremely serious matter. This shows that both the regulations and the people responsible for enforcing them are clearly failing, said Ruz, quoted by the Spanish portal Infobae.
As the mayor added, an office to combat illegal occupation of apartments should be established in Elche.
On Wednesday, Poles were charged with the murder of two people and the attempted murder of a third. The court in Elche kept the case secret, ordering the Poles' temporary arrest without the possibility of bail.
From Madrid Marcin Furdyna (PAP)
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